Myra Hess
Career
Early life
Julia Myra Hess was born on 25 February 1890 to a Jewish family[2] in South Hampstead, London.[3] She was the youngest of four children and began piano lessons at the age of five.[2] She studied at the Guildhall School of Music and at the Royal Academy of Music under Tobias Matthay, after winning a scholarship to the latter in 1903 at age 12.[1][4]
External audio | |
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You may hear Dame Myra Hess playing her piano transcription of Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" in 1940 Here on archive.org |
Her debut came in 1907, when she played
During WWI, large-scale musical activity was ceased in Britain and Europe.
Upon her American debut in New York City on 24 January 1922, she became a favourite in the United States, both as a soloist and ensemble player.
Second World War
Hess garnered greater fame during the
In all, Hess presented 1,698 concerts seen by 824,152 people; she personally played in 150 of them.
For this contribution to maintaining the morale of the populace of London, King
Post-war career
In 1946,
Hess performed the
At the Prades Festival in 1952 she performed the Brahms Piano Trio Op. 87 with violinist Joseph Szigeti and cellist Pablo Casals.[16]
Hess was most renowned for her interpretations of the works of
In 1926 and 1934 she famously
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Hess performing Brahms' Piano Trio No. 2 with cellist Gaspar Cassado and violinist Jelly D'Arani in 1935 (on archive.org ) |
Protégés and influence
Her protégés included Clive Lythgoe and Richard and John Contiguglia. She also taught Stephen Kovacevich (then known as Stephen Bishop) and Jane Carlson.[20] She also has a link to jazz, having given lessons in the 1920s to Elizabeth Ivey Brubeck, mother of Dave Brubeck.[21]
Arnold Bax's 1915 piano piece In a Vodka Shop is dedicated to her.
Last concert and retirement
In September 1961, Hess played her final public concert at London's Royal Festival Hall. She was forced to retire after suffering a stroke in early 1961 that left her with permanent brain damage.[22] By the end of the summer of that year it became clear that her public playing days were over. She continued to teach a handful of students, notably Stephen Kovacevich, during her last years.
Death
On 25 November 1965, Hess died at the age of 75 of a heart attack in her London home.[23] A blue plaque marks her residence at 48 Wildwood Road in Hampstead Garden Suburb, London.[24]
Hess's Steinway piano remains at the Bishopsgate Institute and has been renamed "Myra The Steinway" in her honour.
Hess's great-nephews included the British composer Nigel Hess,[25] who named his music publishing company Myra Music in her honour, and the Conservative politician and former Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson.[26]
Chicago Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts
In 1977, the Chicago Cultural Center began a series of free lunchtime concerts held at its Preston Bradley Hall every Wednesday from 12:15 pm to 1:00 pm, named in Hess's honour as the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts. The series is produced by Chicago's International Music Foundation, with performances at Seventeenth Church of Christ Scientist in Chicago. Since 1977, the concerts have been broadcast live on radio station WFMT and streamed at WFMT.com.[27]
References
- ^ a b "Dame Myra Hess | British pianist". Encyclopædia Britannica. 30 March 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
- ^ a b "Myra Remembered". National Gallery. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
- ^ "Myra Hess Biography". Encyclopedia of World Biographies. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
- ^ a b c "The Myra Hess concerts". The National Gallery-History. The National Gallery. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
- ^ Oesch, Stella. "Myra Hess". Musik und Gender im Internet. Hamburg University of Music and Theatre.
- ^ Dame Myra Hess. https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/hess-myra-1890-1965
- ^ Myers, Rollo. 'Music in Battle-dress', in Music Since 1939 (1947), pp. 9-30
- ^ 'London Concerts', in The Musical Times, Vol. 84, No. 1204 (June 1943), p. 191
- ^ Fifield, Christopher, Ibbs and Tillett: The Rise and Fall of a Musical Empire (2005), p.240
- ISBN 978-0-8149-0140-3.
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33844. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ "Music in the City". City Music Society. 31 December 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
- ISBN 978-1-57467-069-1.
- ^ Dame Myra Hess & Arturo Toscanini: Beethoven Piano Concerto No.3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpOSagfzVr8
- ^ Dame Myra Hess and Bruno Walter: Brahms Second Piano Concerto. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1GpvHpgclw
- ^ Joseph Szigeti: Brahms with Casals, Hess, . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZccR2kpX7g
- ISBN 978-2-3505-5192-0.
- .
- ^ Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, Arranged by Myra Hess
- ^ "Naumburg Foundation".
- ^ "Remembering Visionary Pianist Dave Brubeck". San Francisco Classical Voice. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
- ^ "BBC Legends – Myra Hess @www.classicalsource.com". Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
- ^ "Heart Attack Brings Death to Myra Hess". Reading Eagle. United Press International. 26 November 1965. p. 22. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
- ^ "HESS, DAME MYRA (1890–1965)". English Heritage. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
- ^ Scowcroft, Philip. "A 93rd GARLAND OF BRITISH LIGHT MUSIC COMPOSERS". Classical MusicWeb.
- ^ The Guardian, "Lord Lawson of Blaby obituary". Retrieved 4 April 2023.
- ^ International Music Foundation – About Dame Myra Hess Archived 16 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine
External links
- Free recordings by Myra Hess at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
- International Music Foundation – The Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts
- Rosenfelder, Ruth. "Dame Myra Hess." Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. 20 March 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. 5 January 2010
- Myra Hess – Naxos Classical Music
- video of Myra Hess performing her arrangement of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring"
- Biography on Grove Music Online by Bryce Morrison (2001) (restricted access)